An Evening With The Mountain Goats

Phantom Light Media
Dec 8, 2025
2 min read

A clear chilled Saturday night in downtown Boise didn't take away from the warmth to be felt in Treefort Music Hall. This is night four this week at the hall with the always welcome staff and security that works there. This night is a much needed mellow night of music and story telling with The Mountain Goats from Claremont, California.

The mellow indie folk band started the night off with songs about a shipwreck “Fishing Boat” and “Cold Night”. Each of their songs seem to tell a story of one kind or another. The easy listen and creative lyricism draws you in like a good movie. like a romance movie. The lead singer, John Darneille led us through the night with quips and anecdotes of past experiences from past tours.

Keeping the modest crowd listening and swaying to the smooth beats of the music.

Around the middle of the show Matt Douglas the band's most instrumentalist performed an amazing sax solo that got the crowd cheering. Followed by a song about putting a bandage on the head of a person dying. Because what do you do when someone is dying and you don't know what to do? Put a bandage on them somewhere. John said that with a good little laugh from his fans. This along with some banter back and forth between him and the drummer Jon Wurster kept us smiling throughout the show.

This night has been a relaxing form of entertainment. High energy, low drag. The Mountain Goats can go from mellow acoustic solos to a music that is reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel and the protest music that came out of the 70's and then they'll play a song that comes close to an acoustic punk song. It is worth your while if you have never seen them before to go out and see them. They have a simple production but an amazing show.